Doctor weighs in on Carlos Correa’s ankle as deal with Mets remains on hold

It’s been more than a week since Carlos Correa and the Mets came to an overnight agreement on a 12-year, $315 million contract and six days since the club found something they didn’t like in the shortstop’s medical examination. The Mets became the second team to cite something on Correa’s physical, with the San Francisco Giants being the first to raise concerns about his surgically-repaired right leg.

While playing in the minor leagues in June of 2014, Correa fractured his fibula and suffered what the Houston Astros called minor ligament damage in high in his right ankle. A plate was inserted to reduce the fracture and stabilize the ankle, which allowed the ligaments to heal.

The biggest question is what exactly the Mets and Giants found in the physical that was so alarming. Dr. Laith Jazrawi, a sports orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone who has not treated Correa, said the two teams likely saw post-traumatic arthritis in the ankle. This could possibly lead to problems with the ankle within the next decade, which is well within the range of the 12-year contract the Mets offered Correa and the 13-year deal the Giants offered him before it fell apart and he agreed to terms with the team in Queens.

“Post-traumatic arthritis — meaning even if you stabilize it and make it perfect, there’s still an injury that’s impacted on the ankle,” Dr. Jazrawi told the Daily News in a phone interview on Thursday. “And there may be finding suggestive of some other issues there that may necessitate surgery later on, that doesn’t necessarily have a great outcome.”

Correa could suffer from cartilage degeneration later on in his career, which may require another surgery. This could be what gave the Mets and Giants some trepidation.

“Sometimes you can clean it out, right? But that’s an issue that they don’t want to have to deal with because it’s unpredictable,” Dr. Jazrawi said. “Once you have sort of arthritis set it in, it’s unpredictable how the athlete will respond to it, and it’s a degenerative process.”

Dr. Jazrawi, who serves as the team physician for NYU and LIU athletics and was named a top doctor in his field by New York Magazine in 2013, said athletes who incur similar injuries and undergo similar procedures sometimes require additional procedures to clean out damaged cartilage or to repair holes in the cartilage.

The outcomes of those procedures differ from athlete to athlete. But if the Mets and Giants are already seeing signs of degeneration, then it would make sense that clubs would be inclined to reduce the number of years on the contract. This also explains why the Minnesota Twins medically cleared him to play last winter after he signed as a free agent — arthritis may not have appeared yet, or may not have been as significant.

Late last season with the Twins, he appeared injured after a player slid into his right leg and hit the plate, but he missed no time. Dr. Jazrawi said this is not a warning sign or any reason for concern.